Sunday, November 12, 2006

Have you ever had the experience that, when you take a bite of something new, you swear that you will never ever touch that again?

That pretty much sums up my relationship with one kind of cake - carrot cake. The first time I tried carrot cake, it was a piece of hard, dry cake with an overpowering taste of cinnamon and nutmeg. You can guess why I have stayed far far away from ANY carrot cakes since. BUT, this is different:

I made these Carrot Cupcakes after a good friend of mine treated me to a piece of her birthday cake which is Cedele's Carrot Walnut Cake. It completely changed my mind about carrot cakes, and being me, I wanted to try and re-create this at home.

I searched the internet for some recipes, and finally decided on this recipe from FoodNetwork. According to some of the reviewers, this cake has the problem of difficulty in unmoulding. To avoid this, I made them into cupcakes and had no problem at all.

These cakes turned out really well I must say. It's very moist and soft, with a right hint of spices. They are not very sweet on their own, but when topped with the cream cheese frosting, the sweetness is just nice. The chopped walnuts also added a nice crunch to the soft texture.

By the way, can someone tell me why carrot cakes are almost always frosted with cream cheese? Every recipe I've searched pairs these two together. Not that I'm complaining though.

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comments:

Hmm I never really thought about that. I guess in one way it sort of prevents the top from drying out? Then again I like to think of it as a way of balancing out things. Healthy carrot cake has to go hand-in-hand with something sinfully creamy =D

Angie,you brought up a good question which so happens in my mind for long too. I don't know either... maybe one day some western bloggers also want to know: why garlic + fermented black beans; or red bean "tong shui" + dried fruit skin... It's really intersting to think about how different food combined, and how people from different countries put it to their own perspective :DAnd you know how to tempt me, I just can't resist any cutie-cup-size cakes! Yours cream cheese so scumptious while the cake so golden! I know what you meant of refusing to try again after the first bite! Mine was (home-made) banana cake, later I found out the reason was too much nutmag (my limit is no more than 1/8 tsp per cake), hehee...

Angie,you brought up a good question which so happens in my mind for long too. I don't know either... maybe one day some western bloggers also want to know: why garlic + fermented black beans; or red bean "tong shui" + dried fruit skin... It's really intersting to think about how different food combined, and how people from different countries put it to their own perspective :DAnd you know how to tempt me, I just can't resist any cutie-cup-size cakes! Yours cream cheese so scumptious while the cake so golden! I know what you meant of refusing to try again after the first bite! Mine was (home-made) banana cake, later I found out the reason was too much nutmag (my limit is no more than 1/8 tsp per cake), hehee...

Anh, Edith, thank you for your kind words :). Yeah, guess this classic comb has worked so well that when we think carrot cakes, cream cheese come to mind and vice versa.

D, other than healthy carrots, these cakes are equally sinful from the amount of butter to keep it moist, but I guess it's a good way to indulge :p

Sherie, aiyo, must rest more leh, now that you're so heavily pregnant. I like Cedele's muffins too.

Gattina,Guess all these combinations have been passed down from our grand-, great-grand- or great-grand-grand mothers, and they have worked so well that we never ask why :)Yeah, I didn't dare add in too much nutmeg for these cakes too, cinnamon I'm quite okay though.

YD, thank you too! Room for Desserts? Is it a cafe or something? Wah, angel carrot cake, you are so adventurous :p

wow, that looks yummy！My hushand has been begging for carrot cake and I think I should try your recipe !! Thanks for posting this ! BTW, the recipe asks for 3 sticks of butter, I am not too sure how much is that, in terms of gram, any thought？

Brilynn, I understand too, sometimes we just cannot achieve the same taste as those made by our loved ones.

Jolene, thaanks :)

Kwong and Foo, 1 stick of butter = 113grams, so 3 sticks is abt 340grams. BTW, I halved this recipe and made 12 cupcakes. There's quite a few reviews on this recipe of Foodnetwork which are useful, do check it out. HTHs.

Usually carrot cake's important thing is the frosting but I never tried using cream cheese frosting. Might try out your frosting recipe the next time I bake carrot cake. Have you ever tried to make Bob's carrot cake soup from Surreal Gourmet? Tastes very nice. Definitely a must try if you want to experiment more.

i dont quite aggress with never trying something again... i give most things at least 3 tries... and after that, i dont touch much. but i complete agree with you on carrot cake. i've always wondered who the genius is that decided to make cake out of carrots!but i am always willing to try, anything can be cooked to taste good, it just a matter of figuring out how to do it